‘It might seem like an awful lot of money, but did you know that the value of the goods inside the calendar is usually much higher than the price you pay for it?’
Peg smiled, wondering if Sofia really couldn’t see what was wrong with that. But, somehow, she didn’t think accumulating dozens of unwanted products was going to be an issue for Sofia. She was about to change the subject again when Sofia’s phone trilled.
‘Where are you, for heaven’s sake?’ Adam’s voice was loud enough for Peg to hear even though he wasn’t on speaker. ‘You need to get back down here,now…’
Sofia shot Peg an anguished look before snatching at her handbag and scrambling to her feet. She dropped one of the handles in her haste and the bag tipped, spilling its contentsacross the table. A lipstick rolled away and dropped off the edge. A packet of tissues landed on her plate.
‘I’ll sort this lot,’ said Peg. ‘Go on, go!’
It was a bleed on the brain. The nurse who told them didn’t know the details, but Henry was on the operating table so he was in the best possible place. Then she told them to prepare for the worst.
Peg swallowed, catching a look from Adam that she couldn’t fathom. It was as if he was pleading with her to make everything all right. But she shouldn’t be here. It wasn’t right that she should sit through whatever was coming next with these people. They were Henry’s family. People who, although they might have had their differences, clearly loved him.Shehardly knew him. But what could she say?Sorry, but you’re on your own?For whatever reasonthey had deemed it necessary for her to be there, the longer she stayed the harder it became to leave.She should have gone long before now, when things weren’t so in the balance, when she wouldn’t feel as if she was walking out and abandoning them.
So she stayed for the two hours it took until the surgeon pushed open the swing doors and walked towards them.How did he do it?wondered Peg. How did he arrange his face into such a neutral expression that nothing could be gleaned from it until, in the final moment as he came to stand in front of them, he smiled.
Henry was alive.
The bleed was sudden, but Henry was lucky. If he had been anywhere else when it happened, the prognosis would have been much, much worse. As it was, they were able to quickly stem the bleeding, but although things were stable at present, the brain was unpredictable, and only time would tell what damage had been done. They had, however, repaired the puncture woundto his chest and reinflated his lung, which for the moment was staying that way.
He had been moved to the intensive care unit and would be unconscious for some while. There was a waiting area, a different one, where they would be more comfortable and, in a little while, a nurse would come to fetch them so that they could see him. Wordlessly, they got to their feet.
It was a feeling Peg remembered so well. The feeling that things were being said to you from a great distance. That you could hear them, but you couldn’t understand them, and wouldn’t, not for a few more minutes at least. You smiled and said thank you and behaved perfectly normally, although if anyone asked you, you wouldn’t remember a single thing you’d said.
The new waiting area wasn’t far, and the seats were padded. There was a water dispenser in one corner of the room and a low table held a jug of plastic flowers and a box of tissues. A clock on the wall recorded the time in case anyone was interested.
It was Adam who spoke first. ‘You just never imagine it, do you?’
And both Peg and Sofia nodded because they knew exactly what he meant.
Peg took the opportunity to put down all the things she had been carrying for the past two hours – her sandwich, the remains of Sofia’s egg salad roll. A sandwich for Adam, a piece of Bakewell tart, a Coke, a milkshake and a carton of apple juice. She smiled. And sat down. She had studied the information on each item’s packaging over and over again. Ingredients, nutritional details, storage instructions, recycling opportunities, together with the colours and the design and execution of the packaging itself. She was sick of them. She never wanted to look at them again. She took a deep breath.
‘Um, I was wondering whether one of us should check in on Blanche?’
It was as if a pressure valve had suddenly been released.
‘Oh God, yes, of course,’ said Adam.
‘I’ll give her a ring. Mum will be frantic with worry.’ Sofia looked suddenly horrified. ‘She won’t have had anything to eat. Or probably drink.’ She had obviously forgotten her previous comment about the pavlova. ‘She won’t, you see, without one of us to…She lives in a home,’ she added for Peg’s benefit. She pulled her phone from her pocket. ‘I should probably go, but…’
Adam’s face hollowed. He and Sofia might not have been talking much but it was clear he didn’t want to be left on his own, or possibly worse, with Peg.
‘Let me,’ said Peg. ‘My car’s here anyway and I…It’s probably best if you two go and see Henry on your own. I doubt they’ll let me in anyway – too many people.’
She got to her feet, inordinately glad of the excuse to do something. ‘I’m happy to go and sit with Blanche, make sure she’s okay. I could take her back to my house, if you like. Make her something to eat and drink. Actually, that’s a better idea because your car is still at mine, Sofia. So you two can stay here as long as you want and then just come over later when you’re ready. Any time, it doesn’t matter. Just see how things go…’ She trailed off.
‘I’ll give you my keys,’ said Sofia, fishing in her bag. ‘We’re in Bishop’s Coombe, do you know it? The new development by the old post office. Take the first right after you turn in and we’re at the end of the cul-de-sac. Number fourteen.’
It was settled. Yes, Peg was fine with the directions. No, she didn’t mind. Yes, she would deadbolt the front door behind them. Thank you, she would take the pavlova.
She hurried away, pushing open the main doors to the hospital and finally, only then, was she able to take big, huge breaths of clean, fresh air.
Her eyes turned skyward.Please, please, don’t let him die.
13
There was no getting away from the fact that Peg was curious. She had no idea what to expect from Adam and Sofia’s house, and all she really knew was that Sofia had bows on the backs of her dining room chairs which matched the table napkins. Oh, and that the room itself was too small. Beyond that, Peg had been given various impressions, and she was intrigued to see how reality matched with expectation.
At first glance, it looked no different from most modern houses; neat, square and with few characteristics to distinguish it from its neighbours. However, as Peg drew nearer and swung into a driveway at the side, she could see the property extended to the rear far further than she’d first thought. It wasn’t a mansion, but it wasn’t of average size either.
